Your Eucharistic Identity by Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P.

Ignatius Press. 168 pages. $17.95

Reviewed by Timothy O’Malley

Throughout the country, a revival of adult initiation is underway. At the University of Notre Dame, for example, we have the largest number ever of students entering the Church.

What happens after these Catholics are initiated? Formal mystagogy (a deeper contemplation of the sacraments) should occur following the reception of the Easter sacraments, but it is difficult in many places. Whether we like it or not, our parishes operate according to the school year model, which leaves recent initiates to fumble their own way toward deepening their spiritual lives.

What are we to do about this? I can think of nothing better than giving to such neophytes Your Eucharistic Identity: A Sacramental Guide to the Fullness of Life by Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P.  It’s a masterful Eucharistic mystagogy on the theme of identity, which is so central to young adults—and really all of us—asking: Who am I? Where do I belong? Am I loved? In eight succinct chapters, Fr. Pine answers these questions through an insightful unfolding of the Eucharist and sacramental life.

The first chapter attends to the nature of the world itself as a gift, a truth that has been forgotten by us fallen creatures. The second introduces the Trinitarian quality of the Christian life, the way that each of us are brought into the sonship of Jesus and, thus, into the infinite love of the Father through the gift of the Spirit. The third presents the sacramental life as key to this renewal of our identity, with a specific focus on the Sacrament of sacraments, the Eucharistic presence of our Lord. The fourth focuses more carefully on how the Mass, as a series of signs, is intended to lead us to our pilgrim home, the beatific vision.

The fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters attend to: the past, present, and future orientation of the Eucharist as participation in the once-and-for-all sacrifice of Christ upon the altar; the reception of Holy Communion, which fills us with the grace and virtues of our Redeemer; and how the Eucharist points us toward our perfect belonging to the Body of Christ.

The eighth and final chapter shares the wisdom of spiritual practices that enable the reader to take up this Eucharistic identity.

Fr. Pine moves with stunning facility from the Eucharistic theology of St. Thomas Aquinas to the writings of other saints and contemporary theologians. He provides a Eucharistic education into sacrifice, the fruits of the Mass, transubstantiation, and the communion of saints. As someone who regularly teaches about the Eucharist, I see in Fr. Pine’s book a unique gift: it is rich enough for both those who have studied all their lives and  those who never heard of the Summa Theologiae.

I have but a single quibble with the book. In its final chapter, Fr. Pine encourages readers to find a church or parish that celebrates the Eucharist reverently, even if it is not your home parish. Of course, there is spiritual wisdom to this: we want to enter the Eucharistic mystery with delight. At the same time, looking for such reverence can easily become a mode of Eucharistic consumerism. Our parishes are not just buildings for the sacraments, but the specification of the Body of Christ into concrete communities. The Eucharistic identity of my parish extends to its neighborhoods. In that sense, commitment to the Eucharistic mystery may mean solidarity with that place, worshiping with the people who are my neighbors, even if the pastor isn’t our ideal celebrant.   

But as noted, this is a minor quibble. It does nothing to recommend against reading and re-reading Fr. Pine’s Your Eucharistic Identity, which I cannot recommend highly enough to every Catholic.    

Timothy P. O’Malley is Associate Director for Research at the McGrath Institute for Church Life and Academic Director of the Notre Dame Center for Liturgy. He teaches liturgy and sacraments at the University of Notre Dame.